JEFF LANE

Back in early 2007 I moved from Boulder, Colorado to Athens/Atlanta, Georgia to persue success with my band Outformation, a group of fellas I met in Colorado back in 2004 only to find out most of them are from my hometown of Chattanooga, TN. (one of my 2 hometowns, not to ever exclude Knoxville). After 3 years of evlolving with this band from afar, it was time to make the leap of faith and leave my incredible life I built for myself out west, move back to the south and dedicate myself to making our little project a full time success. I am a caricature of myself, or so I've been told by many. Born in the great state of Tennessee, I moved to Colorado on April 1, 2001 when I was 25 not knowing anyone but my cousin Brandon in Denver. Six years later I've made hundreds of friends and I have played thousands of hours of music with more bands than I can count on my fingers and toes in countless #'s of bars and theatres. Living in Colorado was one of the biggest growing/learning experiences of my life. I'm thankful that playing all that music finally led me to a group of guys with the same vision and ambition, and I'm thankful that the vision we all share has brought me back home to the south (even though I swore I would never move back after I left it). I love playing percussion, not the typical drum kit, but all the little extra things that make the music special like congas, bongos, shakers, tamborines, chimes, whistles, and of course the greatest musical instrument ever made... the cowbell. I really love my truck, which is a white 98 toyota tacoma xtra cab with a white camper top. It took me 5 years to pay it off, but now it's mine and my heart still flutters everytime I look at it. In kindergarten I was asked what car I wanted when I grew up and I said "I want a white toyota truck with a camper top". No joke, I really said that. Maybe in my mind I'm still in kindergarten, I do believe most people who know me would agree. Speaking of kindergarten, I really admire teachers because it is the hardest, most important, most underpaid job in the world. I know this because I was one for a short period of time before I lost my mind and almost went off the deep end. God bless the teachers of the world, I don't know how you do it. As far as lessons learned, my friendly advice to you is to recognize specifically what you want in life, say it to yourself, manifest it, work hard at it, and your life will move in that direction. All you need to have is a vision in your head of what it is that is going to make your life happy, then go on n' get it!..... life is just too damn short when you look at the big picture.. When I was a adolescent I used to read HIT PARADER magazine and imagine what it would be like playing in a touring rock-n-roll band. 20 years later, I do it full time. It's not exactly what I imagined it to be, but I still feel a sense of duty to share my experiences and adventures with you......& this whole myspace thing was created to share experiences, right? So read my blogs, I'll read yours too.